The present invention relates to a fluid distributor valve.
Although the distributor valve according to the present invention can be used in different facilities and for different purposes it has been preferably provided to be used in conjunction with swimming pool bottom flushing devices, the devices comprising several nozzles installed in the swimming pool bottom and through which a water jet is radially ejected flush with the bottom of the swimming pool.
Distributor valves provided to fulfill the function have been commercially available for a number of years, the valves generally comprising a chamber with a water inlet opening and several water outlet openings (one for one or more nozzles), each of the openings comprising a stopper being actuated by means of a reducing gear acting by virtue of the action of the infeed water on a rotor with which the gear is engaged.
The fluid distributor valve according to the present invention has as its object a valve sensibly improving the known valves. One of the improvements comprising, in the presence of only one device with external control means, the device allowing for a control of the time during which each outlet opening will be held open as well as to arrest the valve in a given position wherein one only outlet opening is held open.
Another of the advantages consists in closing each of the outlet openings or orifices by means of a respective flap, the flaps ensuring that a flap will not be closed till the next one is opened, the flaps having a flat seal assuring a tight closure.
The body and the bonnet forming the chamber are also advantageously joined together by means of a bayonet lock provided with a fast-fixed safety catch thereby eliminating the need for the use of tools in joining the body and the bonnet to one another. Upon removal of the bonnet from the body the whole mechanism becomes visible, thereby facilitating the access to the interior of the valve in order to carry out its cleaning and maintenance.
In the valve according to the present invention, the water flows into the chamber through the lower, central portion of its body, and whereby the bonnet, having no connections, is thereby easily removable. Since the gear wheels are furthermore arranged in the upper portion of the chamber they are not subject to the direct action of the inflowing water, and hence the gear wheels are protected from wear and from the deposition of particles that could foul them and hinder their correct operation.
The valve operation controlling and arresting device comprises a cylinder integral with a central shaft being vertically shiftable from an external control means, said cylinder being slidable within a diffuser coaxially installed inside the rotor and forming part of an intermediary plate provided in the chamber, in such a way that when being lifted the cylinder does progressively close the openings of the diffuser and at the same time opens the openings provided in the downwardly extending edge of the diffuser and directly communicating with the lower region of the chamber where the water outlet orifices have been provided.